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Been around, never introduced myself.

SeanC

Member
Joined
February 12, 2016
Messages
10
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0
City, State
Laveen, Arizona
Year, Model & Trim Level
1993 Ford Explorer Sport
Hey folks. I created a thread in the transmission forum, but never properly introduced myself. I'm an electrical engineer by day, and a Ford tinkerer by night.

Last November, I ran across this majorly clapped out 1993 Explorer Sport 4x4 on Craigslist listed for $1000. $400 later, it was mine :D It had old, mismatched tires (one of which was flat), ran like crap, and wouldn't move under its own power due to "something wrong with the clutch". Interior and exterior were filthy from sitting on jack stands for 8 months with the windows down in the desert. Minor fender-bender in the front, and some serious blowout damage on the rear driver side fender like I'd never seen. Looks way better in pictures than in person. Anyhow, this is after dragging it home with my Tundra:

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First order of business was getting it moving under its own power. The previous owner included a new clutch hydraulic line, which was my first clue as to what was wrong. I replaced that line, and we were under way. It ran and drove, but did both poorly. The check engine light was burned out, so after rigging the underhood light to the diagnostic port to read the fault codes, I determined that the DPFE sensor and camshaft synchronizer were bad. Rock auto to the rescue:

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It looks like new heads were very recently installed, and with these two parts replaced, the engine runs great. This gave me a chance to run some chores in the Explorer and find more things to fix. The suspension felt like crap, and I was getting some clunking from the frontend any time I hit a bump. I decided to rip off the TTB and rebuild the frontend.

Source of frontend clunk:
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So Rock Auto and Amazon to the rescue. Got some sweet KYB monotubes for $20 each on closeout from Rock Auto, and bought a full Moog bushing set and balljoints from Amazon. Mismatched internet parts kind of irritate me though :mad2:

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With the suspension feeling much better, I turned my attention to the howling transmission. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know how bad. So I did what any good engineer would do: ripped that sucker out and took it apart. I found a bonus under there in the form of a near-new clutch and slave cylinder. Examples of transmission carnage include strange wear patterns on the pocket bearing and mainshaft, grenaded rear countershaft bearing, and a wigged out 3rd gear bearing surface.

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Using the factory service manual and a rebuild thread I found on here, I was able to completely rebuild the tranny myself. It got a new mainshaft, all new seals, all new bearings (including needle bearings), synchros, a new 3rd gear, and several other necessary clearancing pieces and miscellaneous bits. Oh, and a new front bearing retainer, because I'm a dumbass:

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The thing was so black and cruddy from the front seal leaking that I didn't notice the two center bolts before trying to press the retainer off. SNAP!

Anyway, I had to get creative along the way during the reassembly. Installing the rear mainshaft bearing was no problem with a length of EMT pipe, some steel plate, and the old bearing as a guide :confused: BTW, that cheap Harbor Freight press is the bees knees.

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The rebuilt transmission is working great. No leaks, no weird sounds, and shifts smoothly. Here are a few pictures of how it sits currently. I threw on the 31x10.5R15 Goodyear Authoritys and wheels from my Ranger. Check out the sweet rear tire stuffage :laugh:

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That's how it's going to be for a while. It's way too hot to be working on vehicles in Phoenix during the summer :angryfire: Though, I do need an emissions test next week, so I'm going to have to sweat it out to install the cat-back exhaust I have sitting in the garage.

Thanks for looking. I'll update this as I progress.
 






Two more driveway pics.

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Don't worry, I put the taillight back in after replacing the bulbs :thumbsup:
 






Welcome to the forums, SeanC!
Nice looking Gen 1!
 






Welcome Sean.
 






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